Well, things are really starting to come together. I know itseems like slow work, but I have to fit the construction ofthe Imperials in with everything else that comes my way - eating, breathing, doing things around the house for my lovely wife etc.

All but completed the speaker enclosure/chamber, with drivers installed. Was putting some low level stuff through them, just sitting on the patio, just to warm up the drivers. No high frequency components at all, but you know, with the correct port, you'd have a helluva subwoofer pair, without the horn.

My query regards an earlier post (Getting ready to climb the mountain) where Braggi warned me of possible 'speaker decoupling', due to the woofers' low Fs.

Before I cut the bottom panel of the enclosure and hence establish the horn input vent (approx 60mm by my clacs guys), is there any way to circumvent decoupling by either increasing or reducing the gap? Should I load the chamber up with more filler or less?

build it how you want, then ramp up your output slowly, decoupling has a very distinct sound, if you hear it at too low a volume, then take some stuffing out to lwer the apparent size of the enclosure.

Glad you can see the light at the end of the Imperial tunnel, Gary. Some things to consider: are you using your speakers full range, for home use? PA or DJ? Sound reinforcement for live music? Low power tube amp or major wattage sand amps?

I do occasional DJ stuff and very small scale sound reinforcement. I never turn my power up since I'm usually in fairly small spaces or outdoors where high SPL would bring the cops quickly. I'm not worried about trashing my woofers. However: I read a JBL white paper that stated as fact: ..." if you send bass to your speakers below the tuning of the box, you WILL break woofers." (emphasis theirs) They recommended high pass filters with serious rolloff a few Hz higher than the tuning of the box. That's why so many pro audio components have 40Hz filters built in. (Also to protect speakers and amps from the occasional dropped mic.)

They were talking about bass reflex boxes but the point is more general than that. I think horn decoupling should be considered nearly as seriously, although I think the cost will be bad sound quality long before destruction of woofers. At low volume levels I can't imagine you'd ever break your speakers but we have to imagine you'll want to turn them up at some point. Be careful when you're doing initial testing and you should be OK.

I think I'd try no stuffing at all in the chamber and see if you like it that way. Posts I've read recently suggest a small amount of stuffing, such as stapling a single sheet of fiberglass insulation over the insides of a speaker box is roughly equal to no stuffing at all. Other opinions may vary.

Keep us updated and just be careful with the watts until you're confident your drivers are performing in a way you like. Glad the project is coming along.

[quote author=Braggi link=1130286952/0#2 date=1130426766]I read a JBL white paper that stated as fact: ..." if you send bass to your speakers below the tuning of the box, you WILL break woofers." (emphasis theirs) They recommended high pass filters with serious rolloff a few Hz higher than the tuning of the box. That's why so many pro audio components have 40Hz filters built in. (Also to protect speakers and amps from the occasional dropped mic.) [/quote]This warning is valid, especially in the context of using the gear at it's rated power levels. Dropping a mic is very bad and so is having Judas Priest drive a Harley on stage and putting one of your $400 wireless mics in the pipe and revving up the bike! You need an oil filter for that one. I recommend a low cut for any live mic situation ......... but, dropping somone else's mic sounds very cool if you have the headroom.

Thanks again guys,Definately a case of wait and see, thats the beauty of our game. At the moment, we are lining the interior with a thin layer of dimpled foam, I don't see the point actually, to many people it is just the done thing. My first set of the speakers, big floor standers with 15" woofer (approx 130 litre volume, no port) had no stuffing and the bass was great. In its latest guise, my new floorstanders (see website) has stuffing and I would say the bass is not any better. I'm considering taking it out.

The Imperials will be used as part of a full range system, eventually using active co's with co points ~700 Htz and 5000.

No worries, we will take it nice and easy, do various frequency checks at low volume. I have a great test cd, with tones starting @ 20, 30, 40 etc and on up.

[quote author=DirtDawg link=1130286952/0#3 date=1130429622]... Dropping a mic is very bad and so is having Judas Priest drive a Harley on stage and putting one of your $400 wireless mics in the pipe and revving up the bike! You need an oil filter for that one. I recommend a low cut for any live mic situation ......... but, dropping somone else's mic sounds very cool if you have the headroom. [/quote]

Good God, man! Have you had some experiences! Dawg, I'm so glad you're here among us. I straddle this audiophile/pro sound interest which the audiophiles think is crazy and frankly, doesn't seem serious enough for the prosound forums. It's great to hear comments from someone who's been there and is still having a great time experimenting.

Thanks for your input. By the way, have you considered writing a book of your experiences along with tips for the pro sound crowd? Two books maybe? I'd buy 'em. And maybe the film option.

Good God, man! Have you had some experiences! Dawg, I'm so glad you're here among us. I straddle this audiophile/pro sound interest which the audiophiles think is crazy and frankly, doesn't seem serious enough for the prosound forums. It's great to hear comments from someone who's been there and is still having a great time experimenting.

Thanks for your input. By the way, have you considered writing a book of your experiences along with tips for the pro sound crowd? Two books maybe? I'd buy 'em. And maybe the film option. [/quote]

Well ..... It's not that easy. For now, most of my attention has to be focused on my kids, so my humble writing ambitions are not even on a burner. Maybe later, but thanks for the encouragement!

Well, just to let you all know, Jake came down yesterday to do a bit more Imperialing, fit a few more panels together, drill a few more holes, and one thing led to another. We thought, what the ;) and we ended up putting one of the horns together, screwed, but not glued (yes, did I not tell you we are screwing these beasts together), and minus the braces in the rear of the cabinet. The panel fit was near perfect, so that put a big :) on my face.

Jake cobbled together his laptop and a thirty watt Technics 'A' class amp (interesting amp this one, I want to look into it a bit, for an 'A' class it runs surprisingly cool?). The first bit of sound was one of Jake's own pieces of dance music. The Imperial was sitting on my patio - steel roof etc. Immeadiately everything started to vibrate, the sound is owerwhelming. Later today, we will drag the speaker onto the lawn and give it a bit of a workout. Pics will be on the website shortly. Then, after a play, it will be dismantled for final finishing.

Thanks for your help so far, it's been exhausting but fun, and now we can hear what all the fuss is about.

Just a quick update. Sanding filler on speaker speaker 1 last night. It's still quite cold up in the shed. This is our coldest and wettest November yet. Don't forget, here in Oz, this time of year is approaching full summer.

Anyhow...A good friend of mine, Rodney, picked up a Luxman intergrated amp at a fete for $10. (think it's LV-92). Very nice unit, everything works, 40watt RMS quoted. So I plug it in. The unfinished Imperial into left channel, and an old Akai bookshelf speaker I keep in the shed for test work was running right channel. Volume's very low, say less than 3 or 4 watt max from the Luxman - the shed is faintly vibrating.

And this is what spooks me about the Imperial, I was hearing stuff on the track that I have never heard before. I can only compare it to having watched black and white TV all your life, and one day someone turns up wih a colour TV and POW!!

There I was in the worlds worst listening enviroment, sanding away in a steel shed and the music sounded good. (Urge Overkill, Enter the Dragon, an old favourite).

Picture of unfinished Imperial, plus Jake on website, the usual Birth of the Barklays, Fun with Horns links.

The forum provided great advice regarding the driverhorn loading, i.e. the resonant frequency is too low forthe horn, and careful use of the volume knob will be needed to avoid blowing up the drivers. With that in mind,we decided to delete most of the wadding in the speakerchamber, using a layer of dimpled foam in the apex ofthe chamber only.

From here, it will be a matter of careful listening teststo decide what the final internals will be.

The Imperials will be augmented by seperate mid+trebenclosures and actively crossed over. My linear arrayswill do a handsome job for the initial 'play' , Jake isassembling his own enclosures, still deciding on finalconfiguration.

Darn, why do I have to sleep. But if building the Imperials is like chipping away at a mountain, then I'm chip happy.

[quote author=Valiant_ap6 link=1130286952/0#8 date=1130630235]Well, just to let you all know, Jake came down yesterday to do a bit more Imperialing, fit a few more panels together, drill a few more holes, and one thing led to another. We thought, what the ;) and we ended up putting one of the horns together, screwed, but not glued (yes, did I not tell you we are screwing these beasts together), and minus the braces in the rear of the cabinet. The panel fit was near perfect, so that put a big :) on my face.

Jake cobbled together his laptop and a thirty watt Technics 'A' class amp (interesting amp this one, I want to look into it a bit, for an 'A' class it runs surprisingly cool?). The first bit of sound was one of Jake's own pieces of dance music. The Imperial was sitting on my patio - steel roof etc. Immeadiately everything started to vibrate, the sound is owerwhelming. Later today, we will drag the speaker onto the lawn and give it a bit of a workout. Pics will be on the website shortly. Then, after a play, it will be dismantled for final finishing.

Thanks for your help so far, it's been exhausting but fun, and now we can hear what all the fuss is about.

The forum provided great advice regarding the driverhorn loading, i.e. the resonant frequency is too low forthe horn, and careful use of the volume knob will be needed to avoid blowing up the drivers. With that in mind,we decided to delete most of the wadding in the speakerchamber, using a layer of dimpled foam in the apex ofthe chamber only.

From here, it will be a matter of careful listening teststo decide what the final internals will be.

The Imperials will be augmented by seperate mid+trebenclosures and actively crossed over. My linear arrayswill do a handsome job for the initial 'play' , Jake isassembling his own enclosures, still deciding on finalconfiguration.

Darn, why do I have to sleep. But if building the Imperials is like chipping away at a mountain, then I'm chip happy.